Chickadee
over the TLA building at the end of the Mine Road on Lake Temagami.

December
18, 2001

Red
Squirrel Road rises from its grave

Red Squirrel
Road, abandoned west of Sharp Rock Portage, has been quietly re-opened
over the past month. MNR wants to permit logging next year west of Sharp
Rock Inlet, so it allowed
Liskeard Lumber to re-open the overgrown section west to Bob Lake. FULL
STORY AND MAPS

December
14, 2001

Looking
for ancestors in Temagami?

The
Northeast
Ontario Gravemarker website now contains the photos of all headstones
in Whispering Pines Cemetery in Temagami village. Shortly, Pioneer
Cemetery (past the old town hall) and Bear Island Cemetery will be added.
The site will eventually contain photos of all headstones in Nipissing
District, and some from Renfrew County and Parry Sound District.
There are 75 cemeteries and 27,000 grave markers posted on the remarkable
site, created by the intrepid Murray Pletsch of North Bay.

December
13, 2001

Bear
armour frightens bear

A
North Bay man finally got to test his bear-proof suit on a grizzly bear in
British Columbia, and discovered its true usefulness. "She was just
scared to the death by the suit," the CBC reports he said,
"there was no way the bear was going to come near." Previous
story

Temagami
Marine wants to purchase Crown land along the south shore of Inlet Bay,
near Hwy 11, in the Lake Temagami Skyline Reserve.

To
permit the sale, MNR is proposing a change in use of the
entire portion of Skyline Reserve on the south side of Inlet Bay, a move
that essentially removes the area from the Skyline Reserve. The MNR is
seeking public comment. It would be the first major
amendment to the Temagami Land Use Plan since its creation in 1997.

MNR is also
seeking public comment on the sale of four hectares of Crown land in the reserve
next to Temagami Marine's current property.

This
would be the first Crown land sale on the shoreline of Lake
Temagami (outside the village and excluding the 66-foot shore
reserves on private land) since the Teme-Augama's land caution was lifted
in the early 1990s. The caution, filed in defense of their
land claim, had frozen Crown land sales since 1973. In retrospect, it
turned out to be one of the region's most effective protections against
development and environmental degradation.

MNR
has not conducted a full-site inventory or an environmental assessment of
the south shore. Temagami Marine considered the land south of Strathcona
Road, which is away from the lake and outside the Skyline Reserve, too
rocky and hilly, according to MNR.

The
marina, the village of Temagami's largest employer, wants the additional land
for winter boat storage, and a repair
area. No land sales are currently proposed for the remainder of the south
shore area. Send comments to rick.calhoun@mnr.gov.on.ca
.

December
10, 2001

Protesters
for Obabika Lake boat ramp picket MNR North Bay

The
group seeking a public boat ramp to Obabika Lake continued its campaign by
picketing MNR offices in North Bay on Friday afternoon. Total Access Group
had planned to charter a bus from Sturgeon Falls, the heart of its
support, but only recruited four protesters. CKAT radio in North Bay
reported the event on each of its hourly newscasts that afternoon, giving
the impression of a much larger event. This group held a protest at River
Valley on Nov 24. In September, gates around Obabika
were vandalized.

December
7, 2001

Proposed
Temagami sawmill gets timber offer

A
proposed locally-operated sawmill and re-manufacturing facility has moved
a step closer to reality after the Ministry of Natural Resources offered
birch from Crown land in the Temagami district. The new mill will not have
any cutting rights, but will use timber cut by existing operators.

Birch
being cut in the area has been going to mills in Espanola and North Bay,
providing little, if any, benefit to the Temagami economy. "They make
all the money and we barely survive," says Ivan Beauchamp of Temagami
Forest Products Ltd., the mill developer. "It gets cut, and leaves to
be chipped or made into paper when we can saw, manufacture, and do it at
home."

The
facility will be constructed in two stages, with a $4.1 million,
60,000-cubic-metre birch sawmill planned for 2003, which would employ up
to 60 people. Half the timber will come from Temagami district and the
rest from outside the area. The mill will be constructed at the former
Milne site.

The
second stage will be a re-manufacturing facility that will produce
furniture parts and laminate panels from the output of the sawmill. "We
don't want to be shipping green lumber," said Beauchamp, "but
re-manufacture and add value and do it in the north. We can work with less
timber and add more to the community."

The
economy of the village of Temagami has been devastated by the loss of its
non-tourism employers: Sherman iron mine in 1989, Wm. Milne & Sons in
1990, and MNR in 1996. "We are in a downward spiral," says
Beauchamp. "Things are slowly dwindling."

The
mill must have native involvement as a condition of the MNR allocation.
There are plans to provide native jobs and the Temagami First Nation has
indicated an interest in up to 30 per cent of the ownership. Currently,
Beauchamp and Aurel St. Jean, both of Temagami, are the shareholders.

Environmentalists
are pleased and cautious. "We don't want to see an expansion of clear-cuts as a result," says Richard Brooks of Earthroots. "But
we are happy to see a value-added operation. If it stays sustainable, it
is good for Temagami over the long term, and can be a model for the
North."

December
3, 2001

Parks
and reserves threatened by mining

Environment
groups have discovered that over half of Ontario's 378 new parks and
protected areas are threatened by mining. Three groups, including the
Wildlands League, say the Ontario government is failing as a public
guardian. Chiniguchi Park, along the Chiniguchi River west of the Sturgeon
River, is one of nine areas the groups say are under immediate threat.
This park contains extensive old-growth red pine forest. According to a
report by the groups, "it contains 76 active mining claims and 26
patents and leases." They have requested a special review by
Ontario's Environmental Commissioner.

December
1, 2001

Protesters
want wide-open Obabika Lake access

With
signs that said "Obabika Now," a new access group from West
Nipissing protested gates and restrictions to public boat landings on
Obabika Lake. "We are trying to put pressure on MNR to eliminate
gates," said Total Access Group founder Marcel Prieur. "We have
a right to go fishing and hunting."

About
20 people from the West Nipissing area protested at the Temagami River
bridge, just north of River Valley on Hwy 805, last Saturday.

Prieur,
the protest organizer, claimed 500 members for his group, but admitted
that is the number of free membership cards he handed out to anyone who
would take one, including the five on-duty police officers standing near
the protest. Prieur was recently elected vice president of the older,
larger West Nipissing Natural Resources Access Group, but "quit
because they like to deal with Toronto and don't get anything
done."

Currently,
the lake is publicly accessible by air, a number of portages, and a trail
from the Goulard Road. Obabika Lake had boat-launch access across private
property at the south end until about three years ago. At that time, the
property owner erected a gate. This gate and the Goulard Road gate,
erected by MNR, were destroyed by vandals on September
15. No charges have been laid and the gates were restored. "Gates
are nothing but trouble," said Prieur.

Plans
to log next to the Wakimika Triangle old-growth stand have progressed
another step. Logging had been postponed while the Ministry of Natural
Resources (MNR) created a new guideline for clear-cutting. The guideline,
released yesterday, cleared a technical hurdle. Liskeard Lumber plans to
log a stand known as Block 30, located between Obabika Lake and Sharp Rock
Inlet. The stand abuts the eastern boundary of Obabika River Park. Access
will require crossing Bob Lake Conservation Reserve and opening an
abandoned portion of the Red Squirrel Road. Blockades of the road by
environmentalists and the Teme-Augama in 1989 resulted in 344 arrests.
"This is a special area worthy of protection," said Richard
Brooks of environment group Earthroots.
He urged the public to voice its opposition to Dave Payne, North Bay
district manager of MNR at dave.payne@mnr.gov.on.ca
.

The
2002 wilderness-canoeing symposium will be dedicated to Arctic canoeing.
Twenty-one speakers will address the two-day Toronto conference, sponsored
by the Wilderness Canoeing Association. The speakers and their
slides form the backbone, but the breaks and meals buzz with activity. The
event is the largest annual gathering of wilderness canoeists, who come
from across North America. Most years the symposium sells out its one
thousand seats in advance. Symposium
info

November
24, 2001

North
Bay man builds handy bear armour

An
inventor has built a 68-kilogram (150-pound), high-tech, bear-proof suit
of armor, according to a story in the Globe and Mail. On Dec. 9, the
inventor will bravely don the suit and test it, somewhere in Western
Canada, against a Kodiak bear. Troy Hurtubise admits he's
"scared," not by penetration by the bear, but by being
"crushed."

November
9, 2001

Hiking
trail group holding first AGM

Nastawgan
Trails Inc. will be holding its first annual general meeting (AGM) on
November 24 at Temagami Shores Inn, in Temagami village. The local group,
founded in 1999, has begun a hiking-trail system for Temagami and
surrounding region.

A recent black, furry
guest at a cabin in Sharp Rock Inlet decided to redecorate. The stove in
the photo is on its side on the floor. More photos

November
2, 2001

Public
opposes bigger clear-cuts: poll

Ninety-two
per cent of Ontarians polled oppose a Ministry of Natural Resources' plan
for larger clear-cuts. The poll was conducted by Sudbury-based OraclePoll
Research for environment groups Earthroots, Wildlands League, and
Federation of Ontario Naturalists. clear-cutting, planned for Temagami, was
postponed until the proposed guidelines are approved.

November
1, 2001

Scientists
oppose Ontario's clear-cutting plan

Three
hundred scientists petitioned the Ontario government to abandon its
proposed plan for more and larger clear-cuts. The petition was presented to
the Ontario government by environment groups Earthroots, Wildlands League
and Federation of Ontario Naturalists. “This
guideline rests on a foundation of sand,” said Dr. Roberta Fulthorpe,
referring to Ontario's proposal. Dr. Fulthorpe is a professor of
environmental science at University of Toronto. clear-cutting is planned
for Temagami, including an area between Obabika Lake and Sharp Rock
Inlet.